Skiving machine



Original Filed April 2:5,

3 Sheets-Sheet l xq i i F I l L:

l 1111 WW PH INVENTOR, EDW/N BECK,

,4 TTORNE Y5.

April 17, 1956 E K SKIVING MACHINE 3 Sheets-Sheet 2 Original Filed April23, 1953 INVENTOR, EDWIN H. BECK,

A TTORN E Y3.

April 17, 1956 E. H. BECK sxxvmc MACHINE 3 Sheets-Sheet 3 Original FiledApril 23, 1955 FIG.4.

FIG.3.

FIG. 5.

I NVENTOR, EDWIN H. BE CK, g h a, M41 QMMI,

A TTORNEYS.

United States Patent SKIVING MACHINE Edwin H. Beck, Lemay, Mo., assignorto Manufacturers Supplies Co., St. Louis, Mo., a corporation of MissouriOriginal No. 2,687,634, dated August 31, 1954, Serial No. 350,672, April23, 1953. Reissue No. 23,982, dated April 19, 1955, Serial No. 489,314,February 18, 1955. This application for reissue January 9, 1956, SerialNo. 558,181

15 Claims. (Cl. 699.5)

Matter enclosed in heavy brackets appears in the first but forms no partof this reissue specification; matter printed in italics indicates theadditions made by the first reinue; matter printed in bold face (exceptreference figurea) indicates the additions made by this reissue.

This invention relates to skiving machines, and particularly to machinesfor use in skiving the margins of shoe parts.

In the manufacture of shoes, it is frequently necessary to provide ablank with several scar'fs of different shape. In the case of a shoeupper, for example, a relatively flat, folding cut is made along the topmargin for hemming purposes; a gentle bevel is made along the bottomedge where the quarter is secured to the vamp; and a rather steepslanting cut is made along the back edge where the heel or counter partof the shoe is formed.

The machine commonly employed for such skiving is of a type wherein thework is fed between a resiliently mounted feed roller and a relativelyfixed presser foot against the edge of a rotating cylindric knife. Inmaking marginal cuts, the surface of the feed roller and the opposedsurface of the presser foot are in general but not necessarily exactparallelism with the upper cutting part of the rotating knife. Theposition of the presser foot relative to the knife edge determines thecharacter of the scarf, the presser foot being adjustable in elevationto vary the depth of the cut and being angularly adjustable to vary theslant of the cut. In preparing a part, such as the above-described shoeupper, the practice heretofore has been to employ three machines, eachof which is set to make a different cut, or the practice has been one ofmaking three ditferent runs on the same machine, with the presser footbeing reset between each run. In either case,

a given piece of work is handled several times and there is a lack offlexibility in the over-all operation.

It is accordingly an object of the present invention to provide askiving machine of the character described, which substantiallysimplifies thehandling operations and which ofiers greater flexibility.More particularly, the invention contemplates a machine that permits anoperator to make several different cuts without substantially liftingthe piece from the machine or in any way adjusting the machine except byrelatively quick treadle action.

To these ends I propose that the skiving machine be provided with anupper actuating lever for varying the elevation of the presser foot anda lower actuating lever for varying the angle of the presser footrelative to the cutting edge of the knife. These actuating levers aremounted for vertical movement and are in turn under the control of atleast one, and preferably two, treadle-actuated members, which aremounted for vertical movement from retracted positions-to predeterminedactuated positions. Adjustably-positionable lever-engaging elements oneach of the treadle-actuated members engage the levers and reset thepresser foot on manipulation of either member to its predeterminedactuated position. In a preferred form of the invention, the presserfoot is pivotally carried upon the lower end of a vertically movablesupport, the upper actuating lever is pivoted adjacent the upper end Re.24,142 Reissued Apr. 17, 1956 of this support for cooperation therewith,and the lower lever is fixed to the presser foot.

In use, the machine is adjusted in the usual manner to make a rathershallow and flat cut. The lever-engaging elements are then adjusted toactuate the levers and reposition the presser foot for making cuts ofdiiferent slope and depth.

Other features of the invention will be in part apparent from and inpart pointed outin the following detail description taken in connectionwith the accompanying drawings, in which:

Fig. 1 is an end elevational view of a skiving machine incorporating themechanism of this invention;

P Fig. 2 is a top plan view of the apparatus shown in Fig. 3 is adiagrammatic view of the skiving machine, showing the mechanism of thisinvention;

Fig. 4 is a detail view of the feed roller and presser foot,illustrating one type of cut;

Fig. 5 is a-view similar to that of Fig. 4 showing an alternative typeof cut;'

Fig. 6 is a view like that of Fig. 4, showing still another cut; and

Fig. 7 is a fragmentary sectional view illustrating details the presserfoot and its supporting member.

Referring to the drawings, there is shown a skiving machine of a type ingeneral use. The machine includes a housing 1, which functions as aframe enclosing certain operating parts, and which is secured on aworkbench partially shown at 3. A cup-like knife 5 is mounted within thehousing at one end of a driven shaft 7, which extends longitudinally ofthe machine. As indicated at 9, an upper cutting part of the knifeprojects endwise from the upper surface of the housing so that work maybe fed thereto in a direction indicated by the arrow. Immediately belowthe cutting area 9, there is a roller 11 mounted with its axistransverse to the knife axis. This roller may have an emery surface forrelatively fine work or a knurled surface for relatively heavy work, thesurface being curved in the axial direction so as to fit the curve ofthe knife.

The work piece is guided by means of a member 12, generally called apresser foot, which is mounted above the feed roller 11 adjacent thecutting part 9 of the knife. While the details of the mechanism formounting and driving the feed roller are only partially shown herein,they being known in the art, it will be understood that the feed rolleris resiliently mounted for both tilting and radial movement in responseto movement of the work piece beneath the presser foot. For example, thefeed roller may be carried in a yoke (partially shown at 13) which ispivoted along a pair of horizontal axes, one extending transversely andthe other parallel to the roller axis to permit both downward andtilting movement of the roller 11. Springs attached to the frame andyoke bias the roller upwardly toward the presser foot.

The feed roller is coupled by a driving shaft member 15 through auniversal joint (not shown) to a transverse shaft 17. This shaft 17 isconnected at a gear box 19 to a lateral shaft 21, which extends acrossthe rear of the machine. Shaft 21 in turn is belt-connected at 23 to theknife shaft 7, and both are driven from a belt drum 25.

While the machine may also include a grinding wheel for sharpening theouter surface of the knife and a scrap remover within the knife togetherwith various adjustments for the sharpening wheel, scrap remover, knifeand feed roller, these are omitted for purposes of clarity. Also, aguide cover plate 27 shown in Fig. 2 is omitted from the showing of Fig.l for purposes of clarity.

In operation, the guide surface 29 of the presser foot functions toguide material against the knife edge 9, the feed roller 11 yielding anamount sufiicient to accommodate the work while providing a drivingengagement with the work. The character of the cut is determined by theposition of the guiding surface 29 of the presser foot rela tive to thecutting part 9 of the knife.

In accordance with this invention, the presser foot 12 is pivotallymounted upon the lower end of a plunger 31. As shown more particularlyin Fig. 7, an extension 30 on the lower end of the plunger carries aball thrust bearing 32, and the presser foot 12 is mounted against thebearing on a pivot pin 33, which may be removably secured, as by a clipmember 34, in order to permit replacement of the presser foot. Theplunger 31 is slidably received within a column 35 over the feed rollerand is biased upwardly by means of a spring 37, which abuts against acap 39 screwed into the upper end of the plunger 31. The lower end ofthe spring 37 seats against a screw 41 fixed in the column 35 andslidably received through a slot 43 in the plunger 31.

At the upper end of the column 35, there is a yoke 45 which pivotallycarries an upper actuating lever 47, the lever being pivoted at one end49 to project horizontally across the plunger 31 toward the rear of themachine. This lever 47 is biased upwardly by a spring 51 against a fixedstop 52 and carries a thumb screw 53, which extends downwardly throughthe lever into engagement with the top 39 of the plunger. A loweractuating lever 55 extends from the presser foot 12 generallyhorizontally beneath the other lever 47. The lower lever is alsospring-biased upwardly at 61, and a thumb screw 57 carried by a bracket59 on the fixed column 35 limits upward movement of the lever.

It will be noted that the column 35 is carried upon an arm 63, whichprojects upwardly and then forwardly from the back of the machine. Thisarm also supports certain treadle-operated mechanism; and theupper-lever stop 52 as well as a hook 65 for the spring 61 are mountedthereon.

The treadle-operated mechanism includes at least one and preferably twovertically movable members 67 and 69, which in turn carry certainadjustable lever-engaging elements. In the disclosed embodiment, themembers 67 and 69 are bars slidably mounted within a fixed guideway 71and retained therein by a cover plate 73. Arms 75 and 77 projectingrearwardly from the bars 67 and 69, respectively, and spring 79 and 81,respectively, are secured between these arms and a support 83 fixed onthe guideway. As such, the bars are biased to predetermined retractedpositions, wherein shoulders 85 thereon engage the fixed guideway 71,but are movable to predetermined actuated positions wherein shoulders 86at their tops engage the upper surface of the guideway. In order tofacilitate actuation of the bars, treadles 87 and 89 located beneath thework bench are connected to the bars 67 and 69 through lines 91 and 93,respectively. These lines extend from the treadles about pulleys 95 andthrough the table to the arms 75 and 77.

Each bar also has an upper foot 97 projecting over the upper lever 47and a lower foot 99, which extends over the lower actuating lever 55.Thumb screws are threaded through the feet in position for engagementwith the levers; there being screws 101 and 102 at the top and bottom ofthe bar 67 and screws 103 and 104 at the top and bottom of the other bar69. Locking nuts 105 may also be employed in conjunction with screws, asshown.

Operation of the machine is as follows: The position of the knife isrelatively fixed and the feed roller 11 is adjusted through mechanism(not shown) so as to be clear of the presser foot 12. Necessarily, thefeed roller moves downwardly against its bias as material is fed beneaththe presser foot up against a rear guide 107, which is preferablycarried by the presser foot.

Initially, the thumb screw 53 at the top of the plunger is adjusted toprovide a predetermined relatively large space between the bottom guidesurface 29 of the presser foot and the cutting part 9 of the knife. Theamount of this space determines the depth of the initial cut made by themachine. The angle of the presser foot may then be adjusted at the thumbscrew 57 in order to make a relatively shallow or fiat cut. This generalarrangement of the parts and the cut made thereby are shown in Fig. 4 ofthe drawings, the effect being somewhat exaggerated. The cut shown is ofa type particularly useful in folding over and hemming, as along the topof a shoe upper.

The machine is prepared for making a different cut by manipulation ofone of the treadles, for example, treadle 87. In this case, the screws101 and 102 for the associated bar 67 are adjusted so that when thetreadle is operated and the bar moved from its predetermined retractedposition to its predetermined actuated position, one or both of thelevers 47 and 55 will be actuated. Lever 47 lowers the presser headwhereas lever 55 increases the angle of the presser head and slope ofthe cut. As shown in Fig. 5, for example, the presser head may belowered a slight amount and the presser foot adjusted to a slight anglein order to make a relatively gentle sloping cut.

The other treadle 89 and associated bar 69 are manipulated to preparethe machine for a still different type of cut. In this case, the screws103 and 104 may be adjusted to project relatively further than thescrews 101 and 102, so that the levers 47 and 55 are moved an additionalamount. As shown in Fig. 6, for example, the angle of the presser footis increased in order to make a relatively steep bevel.

From the foregoing description, it will be apparent that a blank ofleather requiring several different marginal cuts, such as that used inmaking the shoe upper, may be quickly and conveniently finished on asingle machine. For example, the upper margin of the blank is passedthrough the machine to make a splitting cut for hemming the edge; one ofthe treadles is actuated and the blank is rotated on the top of themachine to prepare for skiving the bottom margin of the blank in orderto provide a beveled scarf for securing the quarter to the vamp; andthen the other treadle is actuated and the blank rotated again in orderto pass the back margin of the blank through the machine, thereby makinga steep bevel cut for forming a heel part of the upper. Threedifferent'cuts are made thus while the blank is hardly lifted from themachine. Moreover, any one or all of the three cuts can be convenientlyvaried by adjustment of the thumb screws.

Whereas one embodiment of the machine has been disclosed in detail,those skilled in the art should understand that the invention is notlimited thereto, but the draw ings and description thereof are to beunderstood as being merely illustrative. For example, instead of thesliding bar and guideway arrangement disclosed herein, there may bepivoted members which carry the adjustable lever-engaging elements. Itis realized that many modifications and variations will presentthemselves to those skilled in the art without departing from the spiritof this invention or the scope thereof as set forth in the appendedclaims.

Having thus described the invention, what is claimed and desired to besecured by Letters Patent is:

1. In a skiving machine of the type wherein the work piece is fedagainst a rotary knife from between a feed roller and a presser foot,which foot is pivotally mounted upon a vertically movable support; theimprovement comprising a first actuating lever for moving saidpresserfoot support to vary the elevation of the presser foot withrespect to the cutting knife, a second actuating lever coupled to thepresser foot to vary the angle thereof with respect to the cuttingknife, and at least one treadleactuated member, said member beingmovable from a retracted position to a predetermined actuated position,and said treadle-actuated member having first and second lever actuatingelements which are adjustably positionable thereon to engage therespective actuating levers at var- ,5 iable points during the movementof the treadIe-aemated member to its predetermined actuated position.

1 Apparatus as set forth in claim 1 further including .a secondtreadle-actuated member movable from a retrlcted position-to apredetermined actuated position, said second member also havinglever-actuating elements which are adjustably positionable thereon toengage the respective levers at varying points during the movement ofthe member to its predetermined actuated position.

3. In a skiving machine of the type wherein the work piece is fedagainst a rotary knife from between a feed roller and a presser foot,which foot is pivotally mounted upon a vertically movable support; anupper actuating lever movable vertically and coupled to said support todepress the presser foot, a lower actuating lever coupled to pivot thepresser foot, and at least one slide mounted for vertical movementadjacent the free ends of said actuating levers, a treadle for movingsaid slide from an upper position to a predertermined lower position,and said slide having upper and lower lever-actuating elements which areadjustably positionable on the slide to engage the upper and lowerlevers at varying points during movement of the slide to itspredetermined lower position.

4. Apparatus as set forth in claim 3 further including a second slidemounted for vertical movement adjacent the free ends of the actuatinglevers, a second treadle for moving said second slide from an upperposition to a predetermined lower position, and said second slide havingupper and lower lever-actuating elements which are adjustablypositionable on the slide to engage the upper and lower levers atvarying points during movement of the slide to its predetermined lowerposition.

5. Apparatus as set forth in claim 3 wherein said bar has feetprojecting over the respective levers and wherein the lever-actuatingelements are thumb screws threaded through said feet.

6. Apparatus as set forth in claim 3 wherein the movable support for thepresser foot is spring biased upwardly and includes means for adjustablypresetting the upper position of the support.

7. Apparatus as set forth in claim 3 wherein the lower actuating memberis spring biased upwardly and wherein the apparatus includes adjustablemeans for presetting the upper position of the lower actuating element.

8. Apparatus as set forth in claim 3, wherein said slide member isspring biased upwardly.

9. In a skiving machine of the type wherein the work piece is fedagainst a rotary knife from between a feed roller and a presser foot;the improvement comprising treadle-actuated mechanism for changing theangle of the presser foot relative to the knife, said mechanismincluding a member for actuating the presser foot, a second memberarranged for treadle actuation, and a lost-motion connection betweensaid first member and said treadleactuated member.

10. Apparatus as set forth in claim 9, further including a third memberfor changing the spacing between the presser foot and the knife, and alost-motion connection between said third member and saidtreadle-actuated member.

11. Apparatus as set forth in claim 10, wherein said lost-motionconnections are constituted by adjustable elements carried by thetreadle-actuated member for engagement with said other members.

12. Apparatus as set forth in claim 9, wherein the presser foot ispivotally mounted upon a support by means of a pivot pin and a ballthrust bearing.

[13. In a skiving machine having a rotatable knife, a presser-footsupport mounted for movement away from and toward the knife, and apresser foot pivotally connected to the presser-foot support; theimprovement which comprises means for rocking said presser foot aboutits pivotal connection with said support, said means being movable intoany one of a plurality of predetermined positions, and quick-actingoperator-controlled means coupled to actuate said rocking meansselectively into one of said predetermined positions] [14. A skivingmachine as set forth in claim 13, further including adjustable meansassociated with said quickactz'ng operator-controlled means forcontrolling the actuation of said rocking means by said quick-actingoperator-controlled means] [15. A skiving machine as set forth in claim14, further including elevating means for moving the presserfoot supportaway from and toward the knife, said elevating means being movable into.any one of a plurality of predetermined positions, said quick-actingoperator-controlled means being coupled to actuate said elevating meansselectively into one of said predetermined positions, and adjustablevmeans associated with said quick-acting operator-controlled means forcontrolling the actuation of said elevating means by said quick-actingoperator-controlled means] 16. In a skiving machine of the type whereinthe work is fed against a rotary knife between a feed roller and apresser foot, which foot is pivotally mounted upon a movable support soas to vary the depth and angle of the cut; the improvement comprising adepth-control actuating element connectedto move the support for thepresser foot, an angle-control actuating element connected to move thepresser foot on its support, a quick-acting operator-controlled meansmovable between fixed predetermined positions for concomitantly movingboth of said actuating elements into variable predetermined positions,an adjustment device for regulating the displacement of saiddepth-control actuating element in response to movement of said meansfrom one of its predetermined positions to another, and anotheradjustment device for presser foot, the improvement comprising, saidrotary knife having a circular cutting edge at one end of a hollowcylindrical blade which is concentric with its axis of rotation, saidfeed roller being rotatable about an axis transverse to the axis ofrotation of said rotary knife and being located adjacent the upperquadrant of said circular cutting edge partly within and partly withoutthe hollow of said cylindrical blade, the surface of said feed rollbeing convex in the axial direction on substantially the same radius ofcurvature as said cylindrical blade, said presser foot being locatedexteriorly of and adjacent the upper quadrant of said circular cuttingedge for pressing work against said blade and said roller, said presserfoot having a concave work engaging surface curved on substantially thesame radius of curvature as said cylindrical blade, said presser footbeing movable towardand away from said blade to vary the distancebetween said concave surface and said cutting edge and thereby vary thedepth of the cut in the work, said presser foot also being rockableabout an axis substantially parallel with the axis of rotation of saidknife to vary the eccentricity of said concave work engaging surfacewith reference to the axis of said rotary knife and thereby to vary theangularity of the cut in the work; and operator-controlled quick-actingmeans for moving the presser foot into any one of at least three saidfeed roller being rotatable about an axis transverse to the axis ofrotation of said rotary knife and being located adjacent the upperquadrant of said circular cutting edge partly within and partly withoutthe hollow of said cylindrical blade, the surface of said feed rollbeing convex in the axial direction on substantially the same radius ofcurvature as said cylindrical blade, said presser foot being locatedexteriorly of and adjacent the upper quadrant of said circular cuttingedge for pressing work against said blade and said roller, said presserfoot having a concave work engaging surface curved on substantially thesame radius of curvature as said cylindrical blade, said presser footbeing movable toward and away from said blade to vary the distancebetween said concave surface and said cutting edge and thereby vary thedepth of the cut in the work, said presser foot also being rockableabout an axis substantially parallel with the axis of rotation of saidknife to vary the eccentricity of said concave work engaging surfacewith reference to the axis of said rotary knife and thereby to vary theangularity of the cut in the work;'operator-controlled quick-actingmeans for selectively rocking said presser foot into any one of at leastthree References Cited in the file of this patent or the original patentUNITED STATES PATENTS 1,944,311 Woodcock et a1. Jan. 23, 1934

